When the ancient Polynesians invented surfing, they often used a paddle to help them navigate. Fast-forward a few millennia, and Stand-Up Paddleboarding, or SUP, finds itself trendy again. Part of its increasing popularity is that standing upright allows surfers to spot waves more easily and thus catch more of them, multiplying the fun factor. Paddling back to the wave becomes less of a strain as well. The ability to cruise along on flat inland water, surveying the sights, is another advantage. Finally, its a good core workout. If youre sold on the idea, schedule an intro SUP lesson, free with board and paddle rental, and you may find yourself riding the waves like a Polynesian king.More

Many of us remember coming home from our elementary schools with freshly glazed pinchpots, cups, or whatever else our young imaginations could conjure up. Saturday mornings at the Randall Museum can bring that memory back, or create a new one for the youngsters. Ceramics make great gifts — especially on Mothers' and Fathers' Day. Hop on board for the Randall's once-weekly class, and for $6 and two weeks to have your work fired and glazed, you'll have all the materials you need.More

Imports & Domestics: San Francisco Might Have to Kill Its 1971 Ban on Car-Dwelling

Utah-born entrepreneur Austen Allred became something of a local folk hero last summer, after living for three months in a two-door Honda Civic while launching his startup in Silicon Valley.

"Very few people there knew I lived in the car," Allred says, insisting that he adopted homelessness as a necessity rather than a lifestyle choice. He says he came to Palo Alto with $1,000, procured a discount YMCA membership to take showers, and slept in the parking lot of a Mormon church. When his car broke down, he scalped soccer tickets to come up with $600 for repairs.

Allred is an outlier among car-dwellers: He's now running a moderately successful Web company with $50,000 in reserves. Most of the newly, partly, or perennially homeless are far less fortunate; they aren't ingratiating themselves with venture capitalists; they don't have the option to abscond to an apartment in Utah. Moreover, they're contending with a 43-year-old ordinance in San Francisco — and a newly proposed law in Palo Alto — that make it illegal to live in a vehicle.

Allred says he only got stopped by the cops once, while idling his car in an area known for drug trafficking. But he's heard horror stories from friends who parked on the more tightly patrolled backstreets of San Francisco.

That might change in light of a recent 9th Circuit decision to strike down a Los Angeles law against vehicle-dwelling. Ruling that the law was "unconstitutionally vague" and likely to promote discrimination, the federal appeals court set a precedent for any city trying to eradicate this swath of the homeless population.

It could be a huge point of contention in San Francisco, where, in 2012, the city also added an additional ban against overnight parking of large vans and trailers, which created transient communities along the Great Highway and the outer lip of Golden Gate Park. Here of course, housing prices and a fecund tech economy have created a perfect storm for the Austen Allreds of the world.

The oversized vehicle prohibition probably won't be affected by the new court ruling, and a city attorney's office spokesman says he's "not immediately clear" on whether the 1971 law will get chucked. Right now, it's fairly hard to enforce: The vehicle inhabitant has to be personally served with a misdemeanor, so if a cop knocks on the window and nobody answers, no one can be cited.

Allred, for one, would be happy to see it go. "I get the sentiment," he says. "But it seems a little absurd to ban being homeless. I would have loved to stay in an apartment if I could afford one."

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Sub Pop recording artists 'clipping.' brought their brand of noise-driven experimental hip hop to the closing night of 2016's San Francisco Electronic Music Fest this past Sunday. The packed Brava Theater hosted an initially seated crowd that ended the night jumping and dancing against the front of the stage. The trio performed a set focused on their recently released Sci-Fi Horror concept album, 'Splendor & Misery', then delved into their dancier and more aggressive back catalogue, and recent single 'Wriggle'.
Opening performances included local experimental electronic duo 'Tujurikkuja' and computer music artist 'Madalyn Merkey.'"